Waymo Eyes Three New US Cities for Autonomous Robotaxi Launch in the Coming Months
Waymo, an autonomous rideshare service backed by Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., has announced in a press release that it will launch operations in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington D.C. Atlanta's launch will begin in early 2025, with Miami and Washington D.C. services kicking off in 2026. Specific dates for these releases haven't yet been disclosed. The robotaxi organization currently offers rides in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Given its relatively early development stage, the use of self-driving technology on public roads has been controversial, but that hasn't stopped Waymo from receiving backing from key voices.
'Waymo has worked with GHSA and our first responder network as they've expanded their service, always putting safety first. As someone who walks to work almost every day, I'm excited to share the road with Waymo in Washington, D.C.,' Jonathan Adkins, CEO of Governors Highway Safety Association, said in Waymo press release. The autonomous rideshare service has logged over 50 million miles through December 2024, with a Waymo post on X, formerly Twitter, stating that the company found their self-driving technology had 83% fewer airbag deployment crashes, 81% fewer injury-causing crashes, and 64% fewer police-reported crashes compared to a human driving the same distance in San Francisco and Phoenix.
Still, Waymo's technology isn't without its flaws. The rideshare company's autonomous fleet collected 589 tickets last year in San Francisco, equating to $65,065 in fines. Waymo commonly received tickets for dropping passengers off in commercial loading zones, blocking traffic, failing to observe street cleaning parking restrictions, and double-parking. The company noted its vehicles would sometimes drop passengers in commercial loading zones when alternative drop-off areas were congested main roads or a spot too far from the rider's destination. Waymo also added that some citations also occurred during brief parking when an SUV was too far from its facility.
While 589 tickets aren't nothing, they're a drop in the bucket when it comes to San Francisco's traffic citations, representing less than 1% of total tickets. Waymo has used vehicles like Chrysler's Hybrid Pacifica minivan in the past, but as of now, the company exclusively utilizes Jaguar's all-electric I-PACE SUV and is working on diversifying its fleet.
Cities like Washington D.C. will serve as another key challenge for Waymo, as The Nation's Capital was rated as having the ninth-most traffic out of any US city for 2024, according to INRIX. Waymo launched its first international test in Tokyo, Japan, in December 2024, foreshadowing a more prominent global presence. The rideshare service's Level 4 self-driving technology remains ahead of Tesla's autonomous programs, which operate at Level 2. Level 4 indicates that Waymo SUVs can complete all driving tasks within specific conditions, which includes geofencing or pre-defined areas in the company's case.
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